Around the World in Many Days
by Fruity-Dragonfly
Summary: Tired of their older siblings behavior to them, ten year olds Emily, Madeline, Kiku, and Ludwig run away together. What they seemed to forget though, was that they were in a completely foreign country! Now their siblings have to chase them around the world! AU Genderbent America and Canada.
1. It begins

**So the new story is finally here! I've been super excited to write this and I hope you guys love it as much as I do! America and Canada have been genderbent because EpicHeroLaugh has recently got me in the female nation craze. Plus, fem!America and fem!Canada are adorable!**

**Just to let you know, i'm a firm beliver of noninvisble!Canada, so she will be a prominent main character in this story. This whole story is going to be from Emily's AKA America's point of view. Another headcannon of mine is that America can speak all the languages as long as people in his country speak it, so Emily in this story will be multilingual. It will also help ease the story along.**

**Now the epic tale begins~!**

* * *

"Do you have to go Iggy? You just got back home yesterday night!" I pouted, looking up at my older brother.

Arthur sighed and adjusted the collar of his black business suit, "I'm afraid so Emily, they need me to work out some more peace agreements in Hong Kong. So i'll see you in about a week, okay?"

I just crossed my arms and glared at him, "You promised that you would spend this week with me."

He looked at me regretfully, "I know, but something came up," he smiled softly at me, "We'll spend next week together for sure."

I looked pointedly away from him, I wasn't about to forgive him just yet. Arthur frowned behind my back and fished his phone out of his pocket, "I'm going to call your babysitter over, okay?" Then he left the room.

I huffed and flung myself onto the fancy black leather couch, I hated that woman, and the heroine was way to old for a babysitter! What I hated more though was that Iggy was never home. He was one of the youngest diplomats in the world and was often called away from home for long periods of time to solve the worlds problems. Time which he should be spending with me! Now like countless other times, Iggy was leaving me alone in our big, fancy English house with only the mean babysitter.

I miss the times when my parents were still alive and me and my twin Maddie (but her real name is Madeline, shhh!) were still living together. We used to spend half of our year in Canada and half in the USA, but that car accident three years ago changed all of that. My cousin on my dad's side became my legal gaurdian and my cousin on my mom's side took Maddie! Arthur, or Iggy as I call him, was English, and Francis is French, so they took us to their home countries. They were both twenty at the time so the fancy suit people said it was legal or something. Since they hate each other me and Maddie only get to see each other a couple times a year, and I miss her, and North America!

I grumbled until I heard a shout from the kitchen, "What do you mean you can't come!" a pause, "Okay, I understand, feel better soon." Iggy walked back into the living room running a hand through his hair and staring at his phone.

He looked up from his phone, "Your babysitter can't come due to an unfortunate accident and now I have no idea what to do with you."

I jumped off the couch excitidly, my blond, curly hair falling in my sparkling blue eyes, "So you'll let me be by myself at the house!" I grabbed and tugged on his jacket.

A flash of uncertinty went through his eyes until he made some sort of desision, "No, I can't leave a ten year old home alone in a big house like this for a week, and there's no time to find you a new babysitter. I'll just have to take you with me, so quickly go throw enough clothes in a suitcase for a week. My plane leaves soon!" Then he squinted at me, making his overly large eyebrows look like they were eating his face, "Try to change into something more lady-like, you look like a boy."

I looked down at my too-big, black and yellow t-shirt with the batman logo on it and my black cargo pants, then back at Iggy and gave him a 'really' look. I was super excited though, Iggy never let me go with him to his job!

Nonetheless, I sprinted up the stairs into my room and started stuffing clothes into my totally awesome Captain America suitcase. I saw my batman cape hanging on my bedpost and just to spite my brother, I tied it on, pulling the hood with the bat ears on it over my head. Then, in a spur of the moment desion, I threw my supergirl wallet in my suitcase. With that, I grabbed the handle and ran out of my room, my rolling suitcase almost making me fall down the stairs.

Iggy rolled his eyes when he saw my cape, "Come on batgirl, the taxi is waiting outside." He threw our luggage into the taxi, the taxi driver gave me an odd look- probably to overwelmed by my heroicness- and drove us to the airport.

I love the airport, the planes were awesome! Iggy looked a little stressed though, maybe he got airsick? That's why I was trying to convince him to let me fly the plane! "Where are we going?" I asked as I tied my black sneakers back on, we had just gotten through security.

Iggy looked at his fancy-shmancy wrist watch impatiently, "Hong Kong, we're meeting some of my other collegues there, including the _frog_," he had grumbled the last part out, but I heard it all the same.

"We're going to see Francis!" I squealed out, "Do you think he brought Maddie?" We were now in the area where you wait to board the plane.

"I honestly doubt it," he said sympatheticly, he knew that he was the one causing the sisters to never see each other, and the frog, but my face fell all the same. I was like that for the rest of the waiting time, glum and miserable, until we boarded the plane.

I couldn't help bouncing around in my first-class chair, it was so fluffy! Ah, the perks of being a rich, homeschooled kid. The pilot started talking then, "Please keep all seat buckles fastened until noted, thank you for your cooperation."

I fastened the buckle when I felt the plane moving, as the plane started getting faster, I couldn't resist shouting, much to my brother's ire, "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Liiiiifffttt offfff!" and the plane was in the sky, though Iggy was not happy when a flight attendant had to come over and tell me to be quiet.

This trip would be so fun!

Little did I know that this trip would turn out to be more exciting than I thought.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

"What! You can't come!"

"Kiku, you have to come with me."

"Yes, Yao."

* * *

"This is so unawesome!"

"Ludwig, you'll have to come with me on my trip."

"Okay, bruder."

* * *

"_Mon deiu_, really?"

"Madeline, you must come with me on my trip."

"Fine, Francis, just let me get ready."

* * *

**Gah, i'm just so excited about this story! This story will probably be updated frequently because of my love for it. This story is actually planned to be really long too, I mean, they have to go** **_all_ around the world, which is not limited to countries with personifications.**

**Reviews make me super happy!**


	2. Seeds of Rebellion

**Yes! Another update!**

**Okay, to clear some things up:**

**America and Canada won't be wearing glasses. Their female versions don't have them, plus, as kids, they never had them.**

**Ludwig and Kiku won't be very by-the-rules people. As kids I belive they would wan't to be mischeivious and have fun. Also, Ludwig doesn't slick his hair back as a kid, and Kiku is more emotional.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia (Forgot last chapter but remembered this one)**

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I looked with wide eyes at the hotel that the taxi had dropped us off in front of, "It's so big."

Indeed it was, the whole building was made out of shiny metal and flashing lights, but in a way that seemed harmonized and fluid. A silver, metal sign proudly advertised the name of the hotel, 'Destiny', or at least that's what it translated to.

I squinted from the bright glow that the building was emitting, which even in the day was way too bright.

Iggy chuckled when he saw my scrunched up face, "Yes it is, now let's go get checked in." Then we started walking up to the doors- well I was running- where our bags were taken by a nice bell-hop person to our rooms. Which was weird, cause how did they know which room was ours if we haven't even checked in yet? Another thing to add to my 'Mysteries of Life' list.

I pushed open the doors to the lobby, and immediantly my jaw dropped. It. Was. Amazing.

First of all, it was huge, and shaped like a circle! I could of probably fit a whale in it, a big whale! A really, really big whale. A blue whale. It had those shiny marble floors that are polished until you can see your face in them, great for making funny faces and slipping and sliding! There was also a giant flat-screen TV with soft looking chairs and couches by it off to the side, there was also a giant piano. Maddie would of loved it! She's really good on the piano. A beautiful crystal chandalier hung from the ceiling and there was a grand staircase with a red carpet draped over it leading to the next floor.

The most eye-catching thing in the room though, would have to be the huge fountain in the middle of the lobby. It was a bunch of bamboo and flowers that were spurting water into the big basin around it. There were six people already crowding around it, and one of them looked suspiciously like, "Ohmyglog! MADDIE!"

I sprinted over to them and tackled my sister to the ground. We both tumbled around and we both got bruises from the hard marble we landed on, "Emily!" She tried to get up to get a better look, but I kept her down by latching onto her waist.

It was Maddie! "Maddie, I missed you so much! I thought I would _never_ see you again, but now i'm seeing you here! Why are you here? I'm here cause my babysitter injured herself- yes!- and Iggy couldn't find a new one in time! Did-"

Maddie cut me off, "Calm down, Emily! I missed you too, and i'm here for the same reason you are! The same thing happened to Kiku and Ludwig."

I looked up from my position on the floor and noticed two boys standing off to the side. One of them looked Asian, but I didn't know what the other one was. The Asian boy had black, chin-length hair, brown eyes, a black shirt with a pikachu on it, yellow sneakers, and white, knee-length pants. The other boy had blond hair that hung over his blue eyes slightly, a white t-shirt with a sword on it, some sort of black cross necklace, white sneakers, and brown shorts.

I got up off of Maddie and she pushed herself up into a standing position, brushing off her cute red vest over a white shirt. She was also wearing a pleated, red, plaid skirt with white tights and white flats. She breifly combed her fingers through her pig tails to try and get some of the tangles out, then she rubbed her purple eyes with the back of her hand. Over all she looked adorable and I wanted to huggle her some more. However, she was having none of that and introduced me to her two friends.

She pointed to the Asian one first, "This is Kiku, he's really Japanese, but he lives with his brother, Yao, in China after his parents died of cancer and died."

Then she pointed to the other boy, "This is Ludwig, he's German, and lives with his brother, Gilbert, after both his parents left them."

I shook both of their hands entheusiasticly, "My name's Emily, the heroine! I'm Maddie's twin sister, and i'm really American, but our parent's died in a car crash so we each had to go with a different cousin."

Kiku smiled, "Yes, Madeline was telling us about you."

"You can just call me Maddie, Emily does and it sort of became my nickname," Maddie said resolutely.

"Kesesesese~! Looks like my bruder is already becoming popular with the ladies!"

I turned around to see Iggy, Francis, and two people who must be Kiku and Ludwig's brothers.

One of them had black hair tied in a pony tail, brown eyes, a suit, and he looked distinctly asian. He must be Kiku's brother, Yao.

The other one had pale skin, awesome red eyes, silver hair, and was wearing a fancy, black suit like everyone else. That left him to be Ludwig's brother, Gilbert. He was also the one that laughed at Ludwig.

"_Bruder_!" Ludwig whined, crossing his arms over his chest. He was looking slightly away from us though, probably to try and hide his slightly pink cheeks.

Gilbert just laughed his strange laugh again and walked behind us, putting a hand on each of our heads. We only came up to his chest and looked hopelessly short compared to him. Hmph, the heroine is not to be looked down upon!

"Don't worry, I approve of both of them. They're both so cute!" He patted us each on our heads.

I craned my head back, far enough that I could see Gilbert's face upsidedown. I focused back on his red eyes, sparkling with mirth, "Dude, your eyes are awesome!"

I heard Iggy and Yao groan from somewhere behind me and Gilbert, but Gilbert just laughed more at my statement and looked over to Ludwig, "Luddy, I really like this one," then we looked me in the eyes, "Yes little girl, I am indeed awesome."

I twisted around so I could look at him fully. Puffing out my cheeks, I announced angerly, "I'm not a little girl, i'm Emily, the heroine!" Then I pulled Maddie next to me by her arm, "And this is my sister, Maddie!"

He grinned and shook hands with us, "Okay, okay, nice to meet you both, Emily the heroine and Maddie, my name is Gilbert."

"My real name is Madeline, but I prefer Maddie," Maddie said.

Then Yao came over and shook our hands, "Aw, you're so cute, aru! My name is Yao."

"I'm Emily, and this is Maddie!" I shouted happily, maddie just nodded her head.

Then I felt myself be wrapped up in a hug, "Ah, Emily, it is so good to see you again."

I awkwardly hugged Francis's arms, "I misses you too! I never get to see you 'n Maddie."

Iggy walked over to us and announced, "Now that we've all met each other, Yao, Gilbert, Francis and I need to be going to our meeting."

I looked at him sadly, "Already? We just got here."

He looked away from my pathetic puppy dog eyes, "I know, but this isn't a pleasure trip. This is a trip for business, so you guys need to wait in the lobby until we're done with the meeting."

"How long is the meeting?" Kiku asked the question on all our minds.

Yao hesitated, "About eight hours."

"You can't seriously be leaving us alone for that long!" Ludwig cried out. I was feeling the same way, the lobby can only entertain you for so long.

Gilbert gazed at us with a hardened stare, "We can and we will."

With that cheery goodbye, they headed through big double doors into the meeting room.

Francis had hung back for a second, "The receptionist will watch over you, so be good. I'll buy you guys a treat if you are." Then, he too walked through the doors, a man closing them once he was in.

"Jerks," I muttered.

Ludwig looked at us and sighed, "What do you guys want to do now?"

We all lazily gazed around the room, looking for something that would occupy our time, "Hey, Maddie! Let's show them the songs we know." I grabbed onto Kiku and Ludwig's arms and pulled them over to the grand piano, Maddie following slowly behind me.

I stopped right behind the piano bench and looked at Kiku and Ludwig, "You guys know any songs?"

Kiku looked over the the huge, polished, black piano, "Ah, I know a few songs."

Ludwig shifted uncomfortablely, "I don't know any."

"Don't worry, Ludwig. I'm really good at the piano and can teach you some," she said as she pulled herself on the bench and positioned her fingers over the ivory keys, "Besides, we're not exactly short on time."

"_She is really good_," I stage whispered, "Now go sit by her and learn!" I pushed him onto the bench with Maddie.

Maddie looked back at us, "You two get up here too! You guys can help me teach him."

"_Fine_ then, move your butt over!" When Maddie and Ludwig finally moved over to the far side of the bench, I hopped up next to Ludwig.

I looked inquiringly back at Kiku when I saw him still standing, "It's okay, I will stand. There does not seem to be enough space for me anyway!" he stammered out.

Thre was still a full foot of space left, "Up," I commanded.

"There is no such thing as personal space when it comes to her," Maddie giggled.

"Just get on," Ludwig groaned when he still saw Kiku not moving.

Kiku finally gave in and delicately sat on the remaining space next to me. I put my arms around his and Ludwig's shoulders and pulled them closer to me and grinned, "See? Isn't this better?" They both just grumbled. Boys.

"Now to start your lesson," Maddie said professionaly.

By the time we got bored, Ludwig knew at least four different songs, and everbody else gained at least two more.

Maddie knew a bunch of classical ones. You know, the slow, boringish ones? They sound pretty though I guess. Kiku knew some for the popular songs, which you would never guess he would know by looking at him. He was pretty embarresed when we found out, but was comforted when we said how cool it was. Then there's me. I know a buch of theme song ones. I know the Angry Birds song, Darth Vader's tune, that song they play when the president comes, the Star Wars theme song, and Batman's theme!

Now though, now we're bored once again, and it's only been about two hours.

I was draped across part of the couch and the arm rest over by the TV, mindlessly staring at the ceiling, "What do you guys wanna do now?"

Everyone else was like me, laying on furniture and staring at the ceiling, "How about we watch TV?" Ludwig said mindlessly.

"Can't," Maddie said, "TV's off and there's no remote."

We all groaned, but then Kiku seemed to remember something, "I can turn it on by fixing the wires."

"Do it!" I shouted, I really needed entertainment.

Kiku got up from the chair he had been laying on and walked up to the TV. He quickly checked to make sure that the receptionist wan't looking at him. When he saw that she was occupied on the phone, he started pulling out and plugging in different wires connected to the TV.

Me and Maddie softly cheered when the TV turned on. I pulled myself into a sitting position when Kiku sat himself down by me and said, "I can't change the channels though."

"It's okay, but what is this?" Ludwig asked.

Kiku squinted at the screen, "It seems to be some sort of soap opera."

"I have no idea what they're saying," Maddie deadpanned.

"Me either," Ludwig said.

"Don't worry, I will translate for you," Kiku replied.

I could understand it too, "Me too!"

Kiku and Ludwig looked at me suprised, but Maddie didn't even bat an eyelash. For the next hour, me and Kiku translated the Cantonese into English.

No one can watch a soap opera for that long, so eventually we couldn't watch another second and had to turn it off.

"That was horrible," I said.

"I'm never getting that hour of my life back," Maddie said.

"Why would we even watch it that long?" Ludwig wondered.

Kiku replied, "It staved off boredom."

"So now what?" Ludwig said, we were back to laying on the couches.

Just then, I remembered something that could make things interesting, "Come Robin! To the water fountain!" I jumped off the couch and ran over to the large fountain, the others running behind me.

"What is it?" Maddie said.

I didn't bother to answer and began to take off my shoes, socks, and my cape.

Kiku caught on to what I was doing, "You want us to go into the fountain?"

"But our clothes will get wet!" Ludwig said, eyeing the fountain.

I set my shoes by the side, "Clothes dry, besides, the receptionist went on a lunch break," they looked and saw the now-empty desk, "And our clothes will be dry by the time your brother's and our cousins will be out of their meeting. They'll never know!"

They still looked unconvinced, I rolled my eyes, looks like i'll have to convince them. The basin came up to my chest, so I had to climb over it. I fell messily into the water, instantly soaking all my clothes. When I stood up, the water went up to my waist, the other were looking at me shocked.

Show time, "Oh, look at all the fun i'm having!" I started prancing through the water, "All the fun you aren't having!" then I stood under the water falling from one of the bamboo shoots, "Don't you wish you were having all this fun with me?"

Maddie hesitated, then started pulling off her shoes, "I knew you would see it my way, Maddie!"

When Ludwig saw the two of us having fun in the water, he too started pulling off his shoes. When he saw the look that Kiku was giving him, he sheepishly said, "Bruder probably wouldn't even be mad." Then he hopped in the water, causing a splash of water to hit Kiku's shirt.

Kiku sighed, "If you can't beat them, join them I guess." Then he pulled off his shoes and socks and jumped in. He was looking uncomfortable, so I decided to spash him in the face. Once he got over his shock and saw that it was me, he splashed me back.

Then the whole thing turned into a free-for-all spash fest. We ran around splashing each other, dunking each other, but this wasn't limited to the fountain. We ran around the lobby, tracking water everywhere and soaking the rug on the stairs. We bounced around on the couches- soaking the cushions- when we were chasing each other across the room. Ludwig and Kiku had delibretly soaked the marble foor so we couldn't run away from them as easily at the risk of falling, and so we could have sliding on it.

We were having so much fun that we hadn't noticed the receptionist comming back from her break and shouting in outrage. We did, however, hear the big double doors burst open and our sibling's angry shouting.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!" Iggy- no, this was Arthur now- shouted.

We all froze what we were doing. Me, in the middle of giving Kiku a wet hug while messing up his hair, and Ludwig and Maddie in the middle of climbing the fountain. They quickly climbed down and landed with and agonizing splash next to Kiku and I. I quickly let Kiku go.

The lobby was so quiet, you could of heard paper drop. We were entirely focused on our older siblings across from us, raidiating anger.

They marched furiously over to the fountain and we hurriedly scrambled out of it, fear and horror in our eyes.

They stopped right in front of us. This time, Francis was yelling at us, but at Maddie particularly, "Look at all the damage you caused! Do you know how hard this is going to be to smooth over!" He swept his hand out gesturing at the soaked lobby. I could see tears falling down Maddie's eyes, and hear little hiccups come from her mouth. She wasn't used to being yelled at, and I wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but I knew that I was about to be in the same boat.

"Kiku! I thought I raised you better! You are acting like a dissapointment to our parents!" That seemed to hurt him more than any blow, and I could see tears beggining to prick at his eyes.

Then, Gilbert turned to Ludwig, "Remember what I told you, Ludwig! Things like this won't get you far in life! I worked hard to get where I am and you won't get anywhere acting like this!" Ludwig winced and lowered his head, unable to meet his brother's glaring, red eyes,

I knew that the worst for me was coming, Arthur looked eerily calm. Which he only ever was when he was really mad at me, "Emily, it was obviously a mistake to bring you along. You are obviously not mature enough for it." He said it so calmly, but it had hurt more than if he had ever yelled it. I had been trying for years to convince Arthur that I was mature enough to go with him, but now I messed it all up. Tears began to fall from my eyes, even the water on my face wasn't enough to hide them.

The seeds of rebellion had been planted.

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**Gosh, do you see how long this chapter is? Longest one i've ever typed, but I needed their siblings yelling at them in this chapter so I could get on with the story. Next chapter will start the excitement!**

**Review please!**


	3. Taste of Freedom

**Finally got up a new chapter! Sorry, I lied though, the real action starts next chapter. I'm pretty happy with how this story's getting, but I was expecting more reviews. C'mon guys, reviews make me happy, and happy me makes more chapters faster.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

They had locked us in our hotel rooms. Arthur (still isn't getting Iggy rights) had just pushed me in and told me in no uncertain circumstances that I would be _very_ sorry if I left the room, and then he went back down to finish the meeting. He even made me put my awesome cape back into my suitcase!

Right now, I felt numb to the world. Why would I do that? Why would I delibertly jump around in the water fountain when I knew it was wrong? Now Arthur would have to work to make the hotel people forgive us and let us off with only paying for water damage. This was supposed to be a diplomacy mission too!

What's worse though, was that I dragged Maddie, Kiku, and Ludwig into it too. They didn't deserve to be yelled at by their siblings. Why did I always have to cause trouble?

Then, angry heat started started to flow through my veins and break through my numb exterior. No! This wasn't my fault! This wasn't our fault! This was our sibling's fault!

Who would be dumb enough to leave four ten year olds in a hotel lobby with no entertainment for eight hours! They were idiots for expecting us to behave!

Arg! I need someone to rant with. I know! Maddie, Kiku, and Ludwig will, they were wronged the same way!

I burst free of the bed covers I had purposely messed up and cocooned around me. Since me coming along was a last minute descision, there was only one bed in the room. I knew that Arthur would be agitated to discover his covers all messed up.

The room was super nice for a hotel room though, it had its own balcony overlooking the city and a kitchen! The fridge and pantry was fully stocked with everything I ever wanted! So I helped myself to a big bowl of candy on the counter and three cokes before I left the room. Nothing like eating your own weight in candy to help cheer you up.

Okay, it's time to focus now, I have a mission to complete.

Ignoring all previous warnings, I hesitantly opened the door a crack to make sure the cost was clear. After assuring that yes, there was no grumpy siblings in sight, I army rolled out the doorway.

Once outside, I found myself in a narrow hallway. It was really short and the whole floor only had four rooms total counting mine in it. The oak doors and the elevator we used to get up here the only thing disturbing the cherry red walls.

Now time to stealthily call my allies, "MADDIE! KIKU! LUDWIG! MEET ME IN MY ROOM!" Then I dashed back into the room and jumped onto the bed, slightly bouncing from the force at which I had hit it.

The sound of three doors banging open resounded through the hall, and soon there was three kids on my bed with me, having dashed through my still open door.

Ludwig looked at me franticly, "What's wrong?!"

I laughed loudly, "Nothing! I just want to talk with you about this whole incident. It'll be like a super secret spy conference because we're supposed to be in trouble."

"Well if this is supposed to be a secret, we may want to close the door," Kiku said looking at the still open door.

"Oh. Yes," I said sheepishly. In one quick run, I shut the door and jumped on the bed again, this time landing on Lugwig.

"Oof!" he said, wind knocked out of him.

I crawled off him, "Sorry, Luddy!"

Once we were all settled comfortably among the blankets, Maddie continued on with the conversation, "So, you wanted to talk about our unfair treatment?"

"Yeah," I said scowling, "They were so unfair with us. It's not our fault, you can't leave kids alone for eight hours in a lobby and expect everything to turn out all right!"

"It was rather uncalled for," Maddie said.

"Did you guys get punished? Yao is taking away all my electronics and manga for a whole month! He says that I need to stop messing around and become more devoted to my studies. So it's work, work, and more work for me," Kiku said, visibly becoming sad just thinking about it.

Ludwig gave him a slightly awkward pat on the back to try and cheer him up, "My bruder is really mad at me, which he hasn't been since a long time ago. Usually he just brushes any trouble I cause right off, but now i'm grounded for at least two months. I'm only to be let outside once a day and I have to stay in my room for the rest of the time, barring meals."

"That's aweful!" Kiku said gasping slightly, he forgot about his own problems temporarly to focus on his friends.

"I'm with Kiku on this, your brother is a serious jerk!" I said to Ludwig, "Did Francis do anything to you?" This question was directed at Maddie.

She sighed, "Three months of lady etiquete classes, he knows how much I hate those," then she mocked in a high, posh voice, "Make sure you use the left spoon for your soup, Madeline." We all snorted trying to contain our laughter at that one.

"What did Arthur do to you?" Maddie said, choking on her giggles.

My laughing face quickly changed into a worried one, "I don't know. Whenever he's this calm while mad means that something bad is about to happen to me, and i'm afraid to find out what it is."

Kiku gave me a small hug for comfort, "Don't worry, we'll think of something to keep you out of trouble."

I smiled softly at that, "You guys are the best friends a girl could have." I ment what I said too. Even though we just met, Kiku and Ludwig already seemed like part of the family that had only consisted of me and Maddie for the longest time.

Ludwig beamed at that, but then something seemed to register in his mind, "Wait, Gilbert told me something," his face changed from worried to horrified and we all leaned in closer to hear what he had to say, "He said, 'Because of you and your friends interfearence, we're going home tomorrow'. The lack of awesome in that statement was really worrying too."

Now we were all horrified, we would never see each other again! Our siblings would make sure of it.

"I don't want to leave you guys!" Maddie shouted, clutching mine and Ludwig's hands.

"Me either! I'll have to face my punishment alone _and_ i'm going to be losing my new friends!" I shouted, soon we were all holding hands.

We sat in silence for a while, trying to find a way to counter this problem. Then, Kiku broke the silence, "I," he hesitated, "I have an idea."

We all turned to him, holding our breathes and hoping for a solution. Kiku looked a little unnerved from all the attention on him, but told us his idea anyway, "We should run away."

Even the slow and clear way he said it couldn't make me belive he had just said that. Kiku seemed like the last person who would turn to those thoughts, but the idea had merit.

"Run away," I whispered, warming up to the idea. Yes, that was exactly what we should do, our siblings totally deserved it.

"W-we can't run away!" Maddie stuttered out nervously.

"Yes we can!" I shouted back at her, "Think about it! They totally deserve it!"

Now Ludwig was the one who was doubting, "I can't do that to bruder, i'm the only family he has left!" Even Kiku seemed to be having second ideas about his idea, well tough luck!

"_Guys_," I stressed, "What have they ever done for us? Punish us? For what? Having fun?" I was really getting into this, "They're never home with us, dumping us with a baby sitter while they travel the world. When they actually are home, they yell at us to do this and that. They try to change us to fit their image, and never once have they thought about how we feel about it!"

I could see the others becoming more and more convinced with my words, "For goodness sake, they were planning to leave us in the lobby for _eight hours_."

I put my hand out in front of me, palm facing down, "You guys in?"

Kiku placed his on top of mine with a small blush and a determined glare, "I'm in."

Maddie was next, "I'm in, our siblings don't deserve us."

Ludwig hesitated for another second, but soon placed his hand in as well, "I'm in too."

I cheered and we all threw our hands up in the air, "So how are we 'gonna do this?"

Maddie furrowed her brows in thought, "Okay, we'll need food, drinks, clothes, money, a way out, transportation, and a destination." She ticked them off one by one on her fingers.

"We have clothes in our suitcases, we can get food from the kitchen, but as for the rest, I don't know what to do," Ludwig said.

"I know a destination and I can get us transportation, that just leaves us with a way to get out and money. We shouldn't bring our suitcases though, it would be very inconveinient to carry around and it would alert to our leaving. We must travel light. No doubt they'll be watching the lobby for any signs of us," Kiku said while he fished an iPhone out of his pocket.

"Who are you texting?" I asked inquisitivly.

Kiku sent a text to someone on his phone, "My cousin who lives in Hong Kong can get us to Beijing, he will also supply us with clothes too, but from there, we're on our own." His phone beeped and he looked down at the screen, "Excellent, he'll meet us a couple blocks away at a restaraunt called Dragon's Dream."

"Now we just need money and a way out," Maddie said.

I suddenly remembered my wallet, "Oh! I have my wallet, but all my money's in pounds."

"My cousin will take it and give you the correct currency in exchange," Kiku replied.

"Okay, so that's covered. All we need now is a way out," said Ludwig as he started shifting impatiently, no doubt eager to get going. Not that I blame him, I don't want to stay any longer at the risk of being caught.

Suddenly, the brick of realization flew through the window that is my head and I gave a sly grin, "Guys, how do you feel like escaping prisoner style?"

Ludwig ripped up some extra sheets that Maddie found under her sink and made them into a homemade rope. We couldn't have them finding out we were gone right away from missing sheets. We then tied to to the balcony railing so we could climb to the ground. Luckily, below us was an ally between the bulidings and no one would notice four kids crawling out the balcony.

Then came the recklessly stupid part where we lowered ourselves from the fourth floor to the ground. First went Kiku, he insisted that because this was all his idea, he should be the one to test that it was safe. We all breathed again when he made it safely to the ground. Next went Maddie, then Ludwig made me.

It was terrifying going down, swinging in the wind, hoping you wouldn't fall, but it made me want to do it again.

Once Ludwig got down, he yanked the rope hard to the side and the whole thing came undone. The limp rope landed in a heap by us and Ludwig carefully hid it in a pile of discarded wooden crates.

Then, together side by side, we all walked out onto the busy street, the city giving us new sights and smells.

Our first taste of freedom.

* * *

**Kiku's got connections, don't mess with him.**

**So they finally run away! Now I can finally get to the good parts! I already have some of their destinations planned out, and some of the people they'll meet.**

**Gummy bear to the people who know who Kiku texted, though it's pretty obvious.**

**Please review to show your love of this story!**


	4. The World will be Ours

**Yes the wait was long, and yes, i'm sorry.**

**So I thought about it, and I have come to this conclusion: America can't know every language. It just makes the story not as fun, plus it's highly unlikely she would even know that many. So here's the new verdict, she's fluent in English, French, and Spanish, she's passable in Cantonese, and she knows a few Russian words.**

**On another hand, this chapter may seem a little rushed. So feel free to point out anything that doesn't make any sense to you.**

* * *

I could only gape at the sights and smells around me as we walked down the busy Hong Kong streets. There were all types of people rushing from one place to the next, chattering away in a garble of different voices, too intertwined to make out what they were saying. Stores were crowded close together, hoping to sell their wares to the crowds of people passing by.

Kiku, Maddie, and Ludwig weren't faring much better, and we had taken to holding each other's hands as to not get lost as we walked down the lively streets.

I gripped Maddie's and Kiku's hands tighter as we rushed across the crosswalk with a bunch of other people, I could also see Maddie grip Ludwig's hand tighter too. No one payed any attention to the small group of kids parading down the streets.

"Do we even know where this restaurant is?" I asked as we squeezed through another crowd.

Kiku hastily tugged the rest of us to a stop and pulled his phone out of his pocket, fumbling for a moment as he could only use one hand, "Ah, we should only have to turn right here, then it should be somewhere down that street."

We started walking once again after Kiku had shoved his phone back into his pocket, making sure to make the right turn.

"So what's your cousin like?" Maddie asked, all of our eyes scanning the buildings around us for the name of the restaurant Well, at least mine and Kiku's. Maddie and Ludwig were just looking for any sign that looked like it could remotely look like the right place.

Kiku had a thoughtful look on his face while he answered, "He doesn't like his real name so he makes everyone call him by his nickname, HK. He's fifteen, so he's older than us. He never really liked Yao very much, so that might be one reason that he's helping us run away." Kiku hesitated before adding one last thing to his list, "Just watch out because he has an unusual love of fireworks and he may try to scare you."

We all blinked at him with wide eyes. I snapped out of it, "Sounds like a cool dude."

"So we are getting help to run away from our siblings" "Who have wronged us" "In a completely foreign country from your weird cousin," Ludwig looked like he was seriously regretting coming with us.

"Aw, don't be like that! Think of it as an adventure," Maddie smiled happily.

"She is right," Kiku said, "Think of how many kids would kill to have the fun and freedom we have right now. Now that we aren't tied to our siblings, we can do anything and everything that we ever wanted to do."

"Awesome!" Ludwig winced, "I found the restaurant!" I shouted, letting go of Maddie's hand to point wildly at a slightly run-down restaurant.

It was painted a peeling red color with a black, tiled roof. There was a sagging bench and a few stray papers blowing in the wind in front of it. Above the door rested a faded purple sign that said the name of the place in Cantonese.

Ludwig dragged his feet reluctantly and the rest of us dashed to the door, "Are you sure that this is the place?"

"Positive," Kiku and I said at the same time.

Maddie reached the door first and tugged it open, holding it for the rest of us to file in. The interior of the Dragon's Dream was much nicer than the outside of the place. The walls were a soft green with darker green bamboo stenciled onto it and the floor was a dark oak. The tables were black, but the chairs and booths were a rich royal purple. There was even a little waterfall that led to a koi pond!

Kiku seemed to spot who he was looking, "HK!" He walked over to a booth in a corner that was occupied by a teenager with a bunch of bags resting beside him. We all crammed ourselves across him, me squished between Kiku and Ludwig, Kiku pushed into the wall, and Maddie was about to fall off the edge.

Now that I was closer to him, I could make out HK's features better. He had black hair with bangd that swept across his face. His eyes looked pretty unemotional, but a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Hey guys, I hear that you're, like, running away." His smile widened when he saw us each nod our heads, "Nice, Yao is going to freak when he notices your not there, and I will happily help you freak him out. By the way, i'm HK."

We exchanged names while HK placed two of the bags on the table. Each pack was a simple, black drawstring bag just the right size for it to rest comfortably on our backs.

HK pulled open the bag, "Okay, so I, like, divided the supplies up into each bag." He pulled out a pile of clothes, "These bags have all the clothes I have for you in them."

I picked up one of the many plain, single colored t-shirts that were resting next to a pile of black shorts and longer sweat pants, "These are so boring though!"

He locked eyes with me, "You want to blend in with other people, not stand out." Then he tossed a clump of fabric at each of us, "Here, jackets to keep you warm. A blanket won't fit so you need something to help you if you ever happen to go somewhere really cold."

The jacket had pelted me in the face. The other's too if the slightly muffled, "Hey!" and grunts were to be taken into account.

All the jackets were the same plain white color. Each one was a hoodie, and it was slightly too big for all of them. HK looked amused at the sight of four little kids who looked to be drowning in fabric.

Ludwig, ever the rational one, asked, "How much clothes are in there?"

HK paused in his folding of the clothes to put back in the bag, "Well, there should be, like, enough for two pairs for each of you."

Kiku blushed, "You also packed...undergarments, right?"

HK rolled his eyes as he shoved the last pair of pants into the bag, "Of course, i'm not so much an idiot as to forget _that_."

Maddie piped in for the first time, "The good thing is that those are all boy's clothes, so all of us can wear them."

"That's right," HK grinned as he placed the next bag on the table.

We all leaned forward a little as he opened the bag. This time he pulled out bottles of shampoo and other toiletries.

We all examined the multitude of products spread before us. Shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap, hair ties, a hairbrush, a comb, a washcloth, and one brown, full-size towel.

HK looked at the towel, "Sorry, I could only, like, fit one in, so you'll have to share."

"Are you kidding me?!" I said. "All what you've got us so far has been awesome!"

Ludwig nodded, "It is all rather impressive."

"It will be nice to be able to take showers with soap," Maddie said happily.

"You have been very kind to us, HK," Kiku said.

"Wait," HK said, "One more bag."

HK brought out the last bag once we shoved the toiletries into the bag again. For this bag he just completely upended the whole thing onto the table. Spilling out came a whole bunch of non-perishable foods! With one final shake, a packet of gummy worms landed on top of the pile.

"Okay, so here's all the food I could get you in such a short amount of time." HK said as he dropped the now-empty bag onto the table. We shifted excitedly through the hoard of food. There was crackers, dry soup mix, canned food (thankfully with a can opener!), granola bars, chips, and a lot of others. There was even a lot of bottled waters!

HK gave us a serious look, "Promise me you'll stay hydrated?" We all quickly agreed once we saw his expression and ans packed the food back into the bag.

A hesitant look came over his face, perhaps he had fully realized that he was helping four ten year-olds run across the world unsupervised, "I'm sorry, but I can't, like, get you any money."

We all looked at him shocked and worried. Maddie spoke, "But then how will we get around?"

"How will we be able to afford all our traveling expenses?" Ludwig said worriedly.

"How can we get, you know, food?!" I said loudly.

Kiku was panicking, "More importantly, what about shelter!"

"Yeah," I said, "I don't fancy getting kidnapped by random people if we were to try and stay on the streets!"

We were all worried about that problem. All of us had practically grown up with the latest security, and going to countries where there wasn't any protection would be so different for us.

We all looked at HK's stony face, "Look guys, this is your decision. You can back out right now, your brother's and your," he nodded at me and Maddie, "Cousin's probably don't even know you're gone right now."

That stung, but it was the truth. Arthur and the others most likely haven't even noticed us missing from our rooms, all the way across town. Planning on running away.

HK broke the silence that had settled onto our small group, "I couldn't think of a way for you guys to, like, get the correct currency each time you change countries. Going to the bank isn't an option unless you want your siblings to have a chance to track you, or worse, the authorities will be called when they realize you're the missing kids. So you better use those cute little faces you have and beg for some cash."

"This is our last chance to turn back," Ludwig said, "Do you think we should go back?"

No one could blame him for wanting to, his brother and him were still on okay terms with each other. This was our escape though, from our sibling's oppressive shadows, and their over-protectiveness I wasn't about to let a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass me by, "No. We go on."

The others nodded, their resolution strengthened. HK looked proud, but his face quickly morphed back into expressionless, "Good then, I didn't waste this money for nothing."

He placed four tickets onto the table, and we each snatched one to inspect closer. It looked to be a train ticket from what her basic knowledge of the language told her. Only Kiku looked to know what it said completely, so he translated it for us, "It is a train ticket from Hong Kong to Beijing."

I let out a whoop in my excitement, Maddie joining me, and Ludwig just looked grateful.

"Yes!" I cried out, "We get to ride a train~! We get to ride a train~!"

Kiku spoke up, "It is an overnight trip, we should get there tomorrow afternoon."

"Even better~!" I sang.

HK snorted in amusement at my odd behavior, then glanced at the watch on his wrist, "Crap! If i'm not home in ten minutes i'll be in so much trouble!"

He stood up and allowed Maddie and I to hug him happily, and Kiku and Ludwig to thank him.

"You've been really helpful to us," Ludwig said, "Thank you."

"Yes, thanks," Kiku said, "I will keep you updated on our progress."

"You, like, better," he said. Then he gave us a two-fingered salute, spun around, and exited the restaurant We watched him through the glass windows until he was out of sight.

"Alright," Ludwig commanded, taking control, "Let's change so we can't be recognized on the off-chance that our sibling's find out we're gone.

We all carefully picked out the clothes we wanted from the two bags. Kiku and Ludwig went to the men's room while Maddie and I took the bags with us and changed in the Woman's room.

Emerging from both restrooms, we came out in pretty much identical clothes. All of us were wearing our too-big white hoodies and black sweat pants, opting for comfort for sleeping on the train.

I snorted, "We look like some sort of cult."

"Or like we're on one of those class trips," Maddie said jokingly.

Ludwig sighed, "Focus, guys."

We both snapped to attention and saluted, grinning like idiots, "Yessir!"

That got a smile out of Kiku, who then proceeded to divide the bags among us. I ended up with the food bag while Maddie had the toiletries bag, and Ludwig and Kiku both took a clothes bag- now containing our old clothes.

Packs secure, we walked out of the restaurant.

Once we stepped out the door, we were hit by the city smog, inter-grained with smells of food and perfumes. Conversation from the crowded street buzzed around us like a nest of angry hornets.

I slung my arms around Kiku's and Ludwig's shoulders, "Boys," I looked at Maddie, "And Girls, you see this city? Soon the whole world will be ours."

* * *

**No action quite yet, but in the next chapter the fun really starts. This whole chapter was basically just HK- who's Hong Kong if you haven't found out yet- setting them up for their runaway.**


End file.
